Pacers improve mark to 7-0

Saturday

Nov 9, 2013 at 5:00 AMNov 10, 2013 at 11:39 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul George scored 24 points and the Indiana Pacers improved the NBA’s only undefeated record and the best start in franchise history to 7-0 by beating the Brooklyn Nets 96-91 Saturday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Paul George scored 24 points and the Indiana Pacers improved the NBA’s only undefeated record and the best start in franchise history to 7-0 by beating the Brooklyn Nets 96-91 Saturday night.

David West added 18 points and hit the clinching free throws for the Pacers, who had won their first six games in 1970-71, when they played in the ABA. They have the longest winning streak to open an NBA season since both the Lakers and New Orleans were 8-0 in 2010-11, according to STATS.

Jonas Valanciunas scored 14 points and Rudy Gay had 11 as the Raptors earned their first home victory over the Jazz since Dec. 22, 2004.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry sprained his right ankle on the final play of the first half and did not return. He finished with nine points.

Playing for the fourth time in five days, struggling Utah was no match for a Raptors team that had lost four of its previous five, including three straight. Gordon Hayward scored 24 points and Derrick Favors had 17 for the Jazz.

Celtics 111, Heat 110

MIAMI (AP) — Jeff Green hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Boston Celtics to a 111-110 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday night.

Gerald Wallace’s pass found Green in the corner, where he unleashed a shot over the outstretched hands of LeBron James. The shot was confirmed after a video review, giving the Celtics their third consecutive win.

Wallace hit a layup with 1.6 seconds remaining and fouled Dwayne Wade with 0.6 seconds remaining. Wade missed the first free throw and deliberately bounced the second attempt off the backboard.

Green finished with 24 points and was 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. Avery Bradley scored 17 points and Jordan Crawford added 15 for the Celtics.

James led Miami with 25 points and 10 assists. Chris Bosh had 20 points and Wade finished with 18.

Arron Afflalo finished with 21 points for Orlando, which has dropped 15 straight on the road dating to last March 4.

Mike Scott had 17 points in a reserve role and Al Horford scored 15 and Kyle Korver added 14 for Atlanta.

Korver made a 3 in his 79th consecutive game to surpass Dennis Scott and tie Michael Adams for second place on the NBA career list. After Korver hit a 3 on a fast break late in the fourth, Teague’s fastbreak layup made it 97-88 with 1:41 remaining.

Thunder 119, Pistons 110

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Pistons are a much-improved team after Joe Dumars rebuilt the roster once again over the summer.

That doesn’t mean they are ready to knock off teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Detroit played the Thunder tough into the third quarter Friday night, but Oklahoma City’s superior depth took over down the stretch, especially once Andre Drummond and Josh Smith got into foul trouble. Rookie Steven Adams finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow post reserve Nick Collison had nine points and four rebounds in a 119-110 victory.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks thought his entire second unit played a key role in the victory.

"Nick, Steven, Derek (Fisher), Jeremy (Lamb) and Reggie (Jackson)

Detroit’s biggest problem, though, was trying to stop Kevin Durant. Their only hope of that was Smith. He sat out large portions of the second half and Durant finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Leading by 10 early in the fourth, the Thunder struggled to put Detroit away.

The Pistons got within 88-84, but didn’t have an answer for Durant down the stretch. Smith committed his fifth foul trying to guard him with 5:07 left, and Durant hit both free throws to give him 30 points and move the Oklahoma City lead to 101-89. Smith fouled out moments later, and picked up a technical foul on his way off the floor.

Kevin Martin added 32 points and five rebounds and Corey Brewer scored 17 points to help the Timberwolves snap a two-game skid.

Jose Calderon made 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored 21 points for the Mavericks.

Monta Ellis scored 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 14 for Dallas.

The Mavericks played without trusted reserve Vince Carter, who was suspended for the game for elbowing Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams on Wednesday.

Suns 114, Nuggets 103

PHOENIX (AP) — Twins Markieff and Marcus Morris made the big shots that helped Phoenix rally from an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter and earn the victory over Denver.

Markieff Morris scored 14 of his career-high 28 points in the fourth period. Marcus Morris sank a jumper with 5:13 left that gave the Suns a 100-95 lead after a back-and-forth first part of the quarter.

The Nuggets trailed by as many as 18 points shortly after halftime, but outscored the Suns 40-20 behind guard Ty Lawson’s 21 points in the third quarter.

Lawson led Denver with 29 points and Jordan Hamilton added 19. The Nuggets dropped to 1-4.

Pacers 91, Raptors 84

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Paul George scored 17 of his 23 points in the third quarter and the Indiana Pacers beat the Toronto Raptors 91-84 Friday night to improve to 6-0 and match the best start in franchise history.

Roy Hibbert added a season-high 20 points and seven rebounds as the Pacers remained the NBA’s lone undefeated team.

Rudy Gay scored a season-high 30 points on 12-of-26 shooting for the Raptors, who lost their third straight to fall to 2-4. Amir Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Raptors shot 39.5 percent from the field, becoming the sixth consecutive opponent Indiana has held to 40 percent shooting or worse.

The Pacers improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 1970-71, when the club played in the ABA. They rallied from a halftime deficit for the fifth time this season. Indiana overcame 16 turnovers to shoot 46.2 percent.

Ewing, who spent 15 seasons with the Knicks as a star center, filled in as Charlotte’s coach after Steve Clifford had a procedure earlier in the day to have two stents placed in his heart. Clifford checked himself into the hospital late Thursday night with chest pain.

The Knicks shot 75 percent from the field in the third quarter — including six of seven 3-point attempts — to blow open a tight game and snap a three-game losing skid.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis scored a career-high 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and tied a career best with six blocks to lead New Orleans over Los Angeles.

Jrue Holiday added 13 points and 13 assists and Eric Gordon scored 16 for the Pelicans, who led most of the way in their second straight win. New Orleans had lost 11 regular-season games in a row to the Lakers.

New Orleans broke open a tight contest with a 12-0 run in the final 3:16 that started with Davis’ 16-foot jumper and included his fast-break two-handed jam, his block of Pau Gasol and his fast-break layup as he was fouled, the last of which had the crowd on its feet chanting "M-V-P!"

Chris Kaman led Los Angeles with 16 points, while Nick Young and Steve Blake each scored 13.

Celtics 91, Magic 89

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Bass had 16 points, including a pair of free-throws in the closing seconds to help Boston hang on to beat Orlando for its second straight win.

Trailing by three, the Magic had a chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Arron Afflalo’s jumper came from just a step inside the 3-point line.

Thaddeus Young added 16 points, while James Anderson and Michael Carter-Williams had 11 each for the Sixers, who snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-2. Spencer Hawes scored 10 points.

The buzz leading into the game was the return of Bynum, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Cavaliers in July.

Bynum had been acquired by the Sixers in a four-team, 12-player trade in the summer of 2012. But the two-time All-Star center never played for the Sixers because of bilateral bone bruises in both knees.

He played 18 minutes off the bench and finished with four points and five rebounds as the fans cascaded boos toward him every time he touched the ball.

Dion Waiters led the Cavaliers with 18 points while Jarrett Jack and C.J. Miles added 13 each.

Wizards 112, Nets 108, ot

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nene scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 4½ minutes of the fourth quarter, including a putback with 1.2 seconds to play that sent the game to overtime, and Trevor Ariza hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the extra period to lift Washington over Brooklyn.

Bradley Beal scored 29 points, John Wall had 17 points and 14 assists, and Marcin Gortat had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who nearly held Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce scoreless for the first time since they were rookies in the 1990s.

Garnett didn’t score until his 18-footer with 3:40 to play in regulation, and Pierce waited until overtime before hitting a jumper that nearly spurred the Nets to victory. Pierce was a game-time decision to play after missing the morning shootaround with an illness.